Space and Carbon
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself” Carl Sagan
Space and Carbon explores the shared material origins of living things and celestial matter. The title refers to the elements that form both organic life and the wider universe, highlighting that humans, insects, and stars are composed of the same matter.
The butterflies and insects I work with are not symbolic substitutes for nature; they are physical material shaped by time, environment, and chance. Their bodies are formed from the same elements that move through stars, soil, atmosphere, and living systems. Carbon acts as a quiet link between the cosmic and the biological, connecting what feels distant to what is close at hand.
This body of work developed during a period when I was questioning scale, meaning, and significance. Thinking about the vastness of the universe made me feel very small, yet at the same time deeply aware of how unlikely it is for any of us to exist at all. To consider the distances, time spans, and coincidences required for life to emerge is to encounter both insignificance and rarity at once. The work grows from this tension.
These reflections ran alongside the concerns present in my Vanitas works, made around the same time. Where Vanitas looks at the brevity of life at a human scale, Space and Carbon extends that awareness outward. Reflecting on the universe brings the same realisation from a different angle: that individual life is brief, a temporary arrangement of matter within processes that existed long before us and will continue after us. We are a small moment within something ongoing.
"The variety of nature never ceases to amaze me as I explore the species that call this pale blue dot home. I’m fascinated by the variety of the species in nature and how the atoms that create every one of them has travelled through space and time to reside with us here for this brief period of time."
Carl Sagan’s observation that we are “made of star-stuff” expresses this idea simply. My response to it is both thoughtful and emotional. I feel genuine awe at the beauty and improbability of the universe and of the natural forms I work with. The atoms that form the specimens I use, and my own body, have travelled across immense stretches of space and time to exist briefly in their current state. That awareness brings both wonder and perspective.
Space and Carbon draws on celestial imagery and scale as a way of thinking about connection, distance, and perspective. Stars, planets, and cosmic forms appear not as illustrations, but as reminders that the universe is materially present within living things. The work holds together two scales, the intimate and the astronomical and allows them to sit side by side.
At its core, the collection reflects on time. The specimens exist for a short period within the long movement of matter, just as we do. Rather than asking whether life matters in such a vast universe, the work suggests that rarity, chance, and briefness are what give life its value.
One in a Billion
In the vast canvas of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, astronomers estimate there are approximately 400 billion stars. It’s a number that boggles the mind, and it’s within this cosmic enormity that my artwork, “One in a Billion,” takes its form.
Comprising 28 meticulously preserved butterfly and insect specimens, this piece is a delicate reflection of our cosmic scale. Featuring 400 stars, planets, satellites, moons, and other celestial objects all intricately carved from butterfly wings. This 1 to a billion ratio serves as a captivating reminder of our minuscule place in the universe.
2023... A Space Oddity
In 2020 I began to make Space Oddity editions as a way of testing new approaches and methods, helping me to ensure that none of the precious specimens I work with went to waste. This process turned into a project to create a piece per week to form a collection of 52 editions made over 12 months through 2022 into 2023.
